The Black Dahlia
Director: Brian De Palma
Year Released: 2006
Rating: 2.0
Fictitious 'resolution' to the famous murder of wannabe starlet Elizabeth Sharp in Los Angeles, using the crime as the linking point between a bizarre love triangle involving two police officers (Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart) and a voluptuous blonde (Scarlett Johansson). Horrible casting decisions aside (Johansson is terrible, Eckhart seems to think he should be playing Russell Crowe in L.A. Confidential, Hilary Swank does a poor Katharine Hepburn impression), the picture takes a gigantic turn for the worse as it goes on, 'turning' into the most ridiculous camp parody of a detective picture - even a day after watching this and thinking about it, I have no idea if De Palma intends for anything to be taken seriously. It's silly and overbaked, but there are some nice shots (more Hitchcock references, a Welles reference) and a fabulous performance by the gorgeous Mia Kirschner as the doomed Sharp. Where you been, honey?
